1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to roller skate novelty and safety lighting systems, and more particularly to a roller skate lighting device that attaches to roller skates and especially in-line roller skates to announce the presence of roller skaters in low light conditions.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of roller skates, especially in-line roller skates, is extremely popular and results in use of roller skates at dusk and into the night. Skaters presently can use reflective material and flashlights to provide better visibility of themselves to passing motorists during conditions of low light levels. However, reflective material provides only limited protection especially during the dusk hours when some motorists may not have their lights on. Carrying flashlights is inconvenient and typically are only carried when the skater plans on skating after dark. A skater staying out a little later than planned will generally be without a light.
Attempts have been made to address the problem of skater visibility in such devices as that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,478 to Hsu et al. (Hsu), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Hsu's device consists of magnets and coils used to activate light emitters fixed on both sides of each skate roller. The magnets are mounted on two elongate locating plates fixed on both sides of each roller and attached to the inner sides of an elongate inverted U-shaped plate fixed under a skating shoe. Light emitters are electrically connected with related coils mounted on the rollers. As each roller rotates, the coil crosses the magnetic field of the magnets inducing an electric current in each coil which causes the light emitters to light. (Hsu at col. 1, lines 17-24).
The Hsu device requires disassembly of the skate and installation of special rollers having coils and light emitters attached, installation of magnets, installation of elongate members to hold the magnets, installation of a U-shaped elongate member to hold the elongate magnet mounting members, and installation of various fasteners etc. to hold things together. If the device of Hsu is not built into the skate during manufacturing, it will require the user to replace the rollers and many other parts of the skate. This is not only inconvenient, but expensive.
In addition, the wheels of the Hsu device rotate within the U-shaped mounting member, which must necessarily cover the lighted portion of the roller for at least some portion of the roller's rotation. The only time the light emitting device of the roller is completely free of the U-shaped member is during the time the light emitting device is below the U-shaped member. (Hsu at FIG. 3). Hence, the position of the U-shaped member effectively restricts the amount and location of light that can seem from the light emitters in the rollers.
Another attempt to make skaters more visible in low light conditions is U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,164 to McInerney et al. ('164), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The device of '164 comprises a skate having a headlight, brake light, several lights mounted in various configurations around the skate boot, and a battery power source. ('164 at col. 2, lines 10-60). Attachment of the lights to the skate boot is accomplished by provisions made in the boot during the manufacturing process. While mention is made in the '164 disclosure of other methods of attaching the lights, such as gluing or sewing, there is no disclosure of how that might be accomplished. Even if the lights were attached in some manner other than during manufacturing, the only guidance given for running the wires is by molding into the boot. ('164 at col. 2, lines 56-60). Furthermore, the method of attachment of the brake light circuit is given as embedding in the skate boot during the manufacturing process. ('164 at col. 3, lines 10-12). Finally, the pocket provided for the battery pack must be provided for during manufacturing process. ('164 at FIG. 4).
Assuming the lights of the '164 device were able to be installed on a skate boot after manufacturing, the difficulty of attaching the lights and running the wires would take the installation process outside the abilities of most skate owners, as well as being time consuming and expensive for anyone.
Therefore, there exists a need for an after market roller skate lighting system that is easy to install on most roller skates with little or no modifications, is effective, and inexpensive.